COP3// US and USSR Manned Mission Insignia

 Here is a list of all manned mission insignia for the US and USSR space programs of the Space Race from Yuri Gagarin's 1961 Vostok patch to the ASTP patch of 1975. They are in chronological order, the aim will be two analyse these patches in the final chapter of my dissertation.

COP3// DSI Logo Design Part 2

Moving forward with the logo design this post will walk through some of the ideas I carried forward and began to explore in illustrator. This Idea above was to work out a way to illustrate 'earthrise' in the logo; the view you would get from the surface of another body in space of Earth as it rises over the horizon.

This second Idea illustrates one of the sketches in a more digital manner. The design here places all three letters at equal widths and imitates their shapes if they were to appear on a dot matrix display. My problem with this design is that the theory behind it is not looking forward, but backward at older technology.

These designs go back to the 'earthrise' idea, however they illustrate the main problem with the concept, which is that it is too similar to a sunrise or moonrise, it gives the impression that DSI is a more terrestrial organisation, perhaps interested in farming and agriculture rather than deep space mining. At this stage I was looking for something more angular to illustrate the more heavy industry side of mining as well as its tech background.

These two images illustrate that change, moving towards a more refined logo. It also happens to be much more similar to the existing logo of Deep Space Industries so hopefully this is more in tune with their desired identity. I have also added this loop shape, which looks fairly militaristic. The design of the shape illustrates the path a spacecraft would take it it encountered an object in space, flew up to it, orbited the object and then boosted away from it. I will call it the 'Encounter line'. This line could also be interpreted as the end of a mining drill. I have also messed around with the D shape in DSI, looking at the aesthetics and readability of it with and without the open counter. I much prefer the open version visually but I am unsure of how this effect readability yet.

Here I have joined the characters with make the logo together as an experiment into how this would look. Although the logo flows nicely like this it reduces the ability to fully understand what each character is, especially the I which could be seen as a T by some. I have also added the orbit graphic into the D shape as descried in the previous logo post, however this also detracts from readability.

These final images reflect on what I thing the final logo will look like going forward. They are close to the design of the current DSI logo but in a much more fresh and refined manner. The addition of the 'encounter line' gives the DSI text a bit more context into what industry they are operating in. Additionally if this is taken away the connotations of the heavy lines in this shape is of the iconic NASA worm logo, and therefore space exploration in general.

COP3// DSI Logo Design

Here are some sketches of preliminary designs for the DSI logo. The aim for me at the moment is to graphically represent the collection of space materials by space craft in a simplistic way. I also want to use visual imagery that could associate the design with science fiction, the aim of which is to generate that level of excitement of possibility that the genre focuses on. This will include bold text and vector illustrations, sweeping heavy lines. There are a few examples here also of using the shapes of the letters to represent the orbits of objects travelling through space, which is something I would like to investigate further. 

This is my first choice going forward. The shape of the design loosly follows DSI's existing logo but alters the shapes of the letters and includes a simple graphic representation of a celestial body orbiting around an unseen object in space, illustrated by the letter D here. As DSI primary goal is to harvest items from space I really want to fit an illustration of that process into the logo.

Methodologies and Critical Analysis

Methods (Should be at this stage now)
How the information you have found is sourced, collected, collated and presented.
Time-scales and evidence of planning.

How are you going to gather information?
Why is the information gathered appropriate for the study?

Show that you are in control and have planned the research project well.

Methodology
A systematic way of sifting through the information to get to the point.
The dissertation should have an appropriate methodology that best suits your question.

Remember that you shouldn't already know the answer.  The aim of the research project is to find the answer to the question if you think that it is correct or not.

Theories
Theory on its own is not a methodlogy.
It is a lens for which to look at the world/ your subject through.
Postcolonialism- Spivak, Said, Bhabha.
Social History- What was really going on compared to what was represented.

To Do...
Choose the theories and methods most appropriate to your subject.
Make decisions about how to collect and order information.
Choose a relevant theoretical standpoint
Apply these to your studies
Explicitly outline this in the introduction. Address suggested failings in the conclusion. This would be intellectually honest. 

Critical Analysis
Critical as in professional judgement.
A standard by which something can be judged.
Do not report things as you see it, report on the world based on your research and understand that there is always conflict and very little conclusion.
If you approach a conflict with a specific viewpoint (ie Marxism) outline this bias and make it clear that you have a subjective view.
Be vigilant of the subjective bias of writers and sources that you are using. 
Similarly be aware of where I am from and what is influencing me.
Nothing theoretical arrives from a vacuum.

Evidence
Everything needs to be supported.
Could you find more evidence to support the conclusion? Find more than one thing to support my conclusions.
Evidence, Reason, Logic and Argument.

See the power-point online for further help and guidance. 

COP3// DSI: The Practical Plan.

 So the plan for my practical is to take the existing design elements for the company Deep Space Industries and redesign their visual identity. This will involve a new logo, and noew mission insignia for the Firefly and Dragonfly missions. Find out more about them here: http://deepspaceindustries.com/#.

The link between this practical and my written element will be that companies like DSI and Planetary Resources are in a modern age space race. One which involves private organisations working towards the commodification of space. The design challenge will be similar to the ones NASA faced, to work out a way to be publicly acceptable despite huge costs. NASA had to will the public for support through taxes, DSI will need money from investors so a strong visual identity is necessary. 

 The current DSI Logo.

 The current insignia for the Firefly and Dragonfly insignia.

 Examples of imagery and tone of voice portrayed by the website.